To the Lighthouse - NO Spoilers Revisit the Shelf June 2020

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Thanks everyone for commenting.

[George P.]

There are rather long library wait lists for this book at present, but I've found a quite readable free ebook, with a light yellow background at
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100...
There are inexpensive kindle editions as low as 99 cents also. https://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Vir...

Here's some interesting advice from a comment on the Amazon page for this book for those who find it too stream-of-consciousness confusing:
“here is my advice: read it in reverse order. Start with the last section, the trip to the lighthouse, which is very straightforward. Then read the short middle section, Time Passes, which is only slightly less clear. Then tackle the first section, which portrays the Ramsay family and their friends socializing at the beach house and debating whether to sail to the lighthouse“ (R. Gilbert)
I might try it?
I have read Mrs. Dalloway, A Room of One's Own and Orlando. I thought Orlando was crazy-genius, and look forward to another Woolf.

[Flybyreader]

I will join this, too.
I have complicated feelings about Woolf. I absolutely loved Orlando, Mrs. Dalloway and The Lady in the Looking Glass. A Room of One's Own was a difficult read for me and I really hated The Waves, which was too experimental even for Woolf. This will be the first time I read To the Lighthouse and I'm looking forward to it!

[Flybyreader]

John wrote: "I enjoyed reading To the Lighthouse. I am now reading The Waves which I am finding a difficult novel to read. However, VW use of language is amazing."

Oh, I don't know how I got to the end of the book without hanging myself. I usually love Woolf's novels but that one was felt too experimental and I could not get in at all.

[Cendaquenta]

Looking forward to this one, although in my experience Woolf is a tough read most of the time.

[Luke]

This is one of my absolute favorites, so I hope at least one other person enjoys it as much as I did.

[George P.]

I'm now half-way through, and looking forward to the comments in a few days. I'll probably be another week reading the second half.
She had great insight into how people's minds worked, would have made a good psychologist I think.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

I plan to read this one for the first time with the group in June. I'm looking forward to the discussion.

[Vesna]

I have just now finished it and look forward to the group discussion.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Now that I am nearly finished, I wanted to go back and see all the comments. I smiled and had to laugh when I read words like "meandering" muddle. Ha! Yes it is, yet there is a story lurking in there.

[Elin]

I've read this one before a long time ago but all I could remember was the writing style and the beatiful wording. Even though I started it again yesterday I still can't remember how the story unfolds or the ending. Wich means I get to experience it all over again!

[Erin]

I was a bit late getting into it with other things going on this month, but now that I am, I quite admire Woolf’s writing and am enjoying the read! At times I would get a bit impatient but then the next page there would be a passage of such beauty or profundity that amazes me. Are the sentences long? They seldom feel it as it’s just a flowing along of thoughts and perceptions that pulls you into the scene and especially into the characters’ perspectives.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Erin wrote: "I was a bit late getting into it with other things going on this month, but now that I am, I quite admire Woolf’s writing and am enjoying the read! At times I would get a bit impatient but then the..."

Erin I also liked it and ended up rating the book 5 stars. I was completely surprised by that. I found it difficult in places, but by the end I really liked it.

[Irphen]

So I'm reading this book a bit later than most but anyhow if someone wants to share some thoughts about it it would be my pleasure^^ I'm more or less on 50% by now and I have to confess the beginning was quite hard for me. Adapting to the writing style and making sure to follow it took me some time but now I actually enjoy it a lot!

[PinkieBrown]

Is it your first Woolf book? It was mine and compared with her other novels, yes, it is quite a tough read.

[Irphen]

PinkieBrown wrote: "Is it your first Woolf book? It was mine and compared with her other novels, yes, it is quite a tough read."

Yes it is indeed my first Woolf book. I planned initially to read Mrs. Dalloway first cause I own it as well but I ended up being more appealed by this one. Maybe not the easiest choice! XD

[[deleted user]]

I'm fifty pages into To the Lighthouse (1927), and so far it's my favourite of Virginia Woolf's novels. I've just finished, and very much enjoyed reading, Jacob's Room (1922) and Mrs. Dalloway (1925). To The Lighthouse feels the easiest (or least 'nervous') of the three style-wise, and the setting, the Isle of Skye (compared to the streets of London of the previous two), particularly conducive to intimacy and introspection.